Snickers Bar Bandit Sat in Cook County Jail for 114 Days

A man accused of stealing two Snickers bars sat in the Cook County Jail for 114 days. A pregnant woman arrested last summer, accused of stealing plums and candy, remains behind bars awaiting trial.

Together, their incarceration has cost the county $36,000.

“This is stupidity of the highest order,” Sheriff Tom Dart said Tuesday, taking aim at a justice system whose wheels grind slowly and carelessly, particularly so for poor people accused of petty crime.

Dart wants to speed up these cases with a “rocket docket,” and he’s proposing legislation to expedite retail theft and trespassing cases. In the meantime, Dart announced, jail staff will identify five to 10 inmates every week who probably don’t belong in jail. Dart wants to enlist public defenders and prosecutors in speeding up those cases.

The sheriff discussed his plan at a Tuesday news conference at the county jail, current residence for 8,500 inmates.

“Are we protecting society? No. Are we rehabilitating them? No,” he said, noting “the outrageous amounts of money we spend incarcerating the wrong people.”

Dart said housing one detainee for one day costs $143.

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